Nicholas Civella

Nicholas Civella (19 March 1912-12 March 1983) was boss of the Kansas City crime family from 1953 to 1983, succeeding Anthony Gizzo and preceding Carl Civella.

Biography
Nicholas Civella was born in Kansas City, Missouri on 19 March 1912, the son of Italian immigrants, the brother of Carl Civella, and the uncle of Anthony Civella. Civella dropped out of school after being arrested for the first time at the age of ten, and he became involved with bootlegging during Prohibition, as well as working as a Democratic Party precinct worker. Civella befriended Kansas City crime family boss Charles Binaggio, and he became boss of the family in 1953. Starting in the 1960s, law enforcement began to surveil him for the rest of his life, as they did not appreciate his ability to elude arrest. In 1977, he was convicted of illegal gambling charges and sent to prison, and he died in federal prison in Springfield, Missouri in 1983.